When Rick Nelson wrote his 1972 hit 'Garden Party' he wasn't just pulling words out of the air to write a fictitious lyric. He was angry, hurt and probably mistaken about a recent performance and wrote the song as a deliberate comment about the way he felt.
The 'Garden Party' he went to was Madison Square Garden the previous year. He'd been invited as part of a "Rock & Roll Spectacular" with other 50's stars.
"I went to a garden party
To reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories
And play our songs again"
Rick (Ricky as he was back in the day) became famous not only for his music but also for appearing in the movie and TV series featuring his family, 'The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'. Always portrayed as a clean-cut kid, by the mid 60's he got into country-rock, being an early 'California Sound' singer. By the 70's he was singing with the Stone Canyon Band and had a minor hit with a cover of Dylan's 'She Belongs To Me'. Randy Meisner left the group and went on to be a founding member of The Eagles.
So, when Rick turned up at The Garden he was no longer the clean-cut kid of his past, he was sporting long hair and a sequined outfit and that was reflected in the song ..
"When I got to the garden party
They all knew my name
No one recognized me
I didn't look the same".
The "Rock & Roll Spectacular" started off OK. Rick sang some of his old stuff, but then started on newer songs and covers he'd done for this album 'Rudy the Fifth' which was due for release. Specifically, he did his cover of Dylan's 'She Belongs To Me' then the crowd got a bit hostile when he sang the Stones 'Honky Tonk Women' .. and that also got a mention in the lyrics of 'Garden Party' ..
"I said hello to 'Mary Lou'
She belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk
It was time to leave"
Other artists and spectators got a mention along the way .. Chuck Berry ..
"Someone opened up a closet door
And out stepped "Johnny B Goode"
Playing guitar
Like a-ringin' a bell
And lookin' like he should"
"Yoko brought her walrus" .. John and Yoko obviously. Less obvious was a reference to George Harrison .. "Mr Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes" .. George was a friend of Ricks and he used the name 'Mr. Hughes' when he was on the road.
Ultimately, Rick may have been wrong about the booing he got from the crowd - it was later reported that the police were involved with something going on at the concert and the crowd were booing their actions, but Rick took it as an attack on his performance. Maybe a lucky mistake, the song he wrote about it became his highest charting single since 1963.
The chorus of 'Garden Party' gives Rick's take on the whole thing ..
"But it's all right now
Learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone
So you got to please yourself"
He did that with the release of this album 'Rudy the Fifth', but within a few years he put the 'Y' back on his name and as Ricky Nelson he released a greatest hits album and started a comeback tour with Fats Domino. Sadly, on New Year's Eve 1985 while travelling to a concert in Dallas, Rick's plane crashed and he was killed.
I like this album. Apart from the couple of Dylan covers and the 'Honky Tonk Women', all of which are passable versions, he also does a great job of 'This Train' and 'Feel So Good (Feel So Fine)' a 1955 song by Shirley and Lee.
From the days of 'Hello Mary Lou', through a bleak time in the 60's when the 'Teen Idols' were run out of town by everything that the 60's were, to a quick burst in the 70's and a brief revival in the 80's, Rick Nelson deserves more respect than he sometimes gets. Take another listen.
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